1.1.The Subject оf Theoretical Grammar Studies (or what is it all about?)
I. Using dictionaries of linguistic terms suggest the definitions of the following key terms. Single out key words or phrases in these definitions to make them easy to memorize: language grammar speech morphology system syntax structure paradigm grammatical structure of a language syntagma synchrony syncretism diachrony II. Topics and points for discussion: 1. Theoretical grammar as a branch of linguistics. Grammar and other branches, their interrelations. 2. Morphology and syntax as two parts of grammar. 3. The hierarchy of lingual units. 4. General characteristics of the grammatical structure of English. III. Refer the subject-matters of research listed in the right-hand column to the corresponding part of Grammar: Syntax 1) the grammatical meaning of the Continuous forms 2) lexico-grammatic groups of verbs 3) classification of subordinate clauses Morphology 4) cohesion as a major text category 5) the existence of the category of gender in Modern English 6) ways of expressing the theme and the rheme IV. Which statements refer to the sphere of practical grammar and which have theoretical value? Practical Grammar 1. Abstract nouns are commonly not used in plural form. 2. The absolute singular can be used with countable nouns. In such cases the nouns are taken to express either the corresponding abstract ideas, or else the meaning of some mass-material correlated with its countable referent. 3. The Statives (awake, ablaze) have problematic part-of-speech reference. Based on three-principle approach to part-of-speech classification they can be referred either to the class of adjectives or to a separate class of words. Theoretical Grammar 4. O. Jesperson divided all words into 5 parts of speech based on the principles of meaning, form and function 1) Nouns; 2) Adjectives; 3) Pronouns, including numerals and pronominal adverbs (where, why, how, when); 4) Verbs, including verbids or verbals (inf., ger., part.); 5) Particle: particle proper (just, too, enough, only, yet, etc.), prepositions, conjunctions. 5. There are three tense-forms representing three main philosophical divisions of time (lived-lives-will live). These forms show the time of the action from the point of view of the moment of speech. 6. There are two temporal categories in English: primary time and prospective time. The category of prospective time is relative because the future action is relative to the present or past time. This view is supported by the analysis of Future-in-the-Past semantics. V. How grammar reveals itself in translation 5.1. Analyze the translation of the text below: which of the changes in the highlighted fragments are of lexical nature and which can be explained by the differences in the grammatical structure of English and Russian? All my life I’ve been told you can’t buy happiness, and I must say I used to believe it. But lately I’ve changed my mind. Money can buy happiness and usually does. Мне всю жизнь твердили, что не в деньгах счастье, и надо сказать, я и сам этому верил. Однако, в последнее время мое мнение на этот счет переменилось. Деньги могут принести счастье, и, как правило, так и случается. Take my friends, the Schmicks. They’re poor, honest, hard-working people. All they have – each other, and they are miserable. Взять хотя бы моих друзей, супругов Шмик. Честные трудяги, они живут в бедности. Совсем ничего не имеют, кроме друг друга, конечно. Так вот: они – несчастные люди. Then take my friends, the Smugs – he’s a banker; she inherited money from her father. They live on Park Avenue in the winter and Westhampton in the summer, unless they go abroad. Everything they do costs money, and you won’t find happier people anywhere. Другие мои друзья, супруги Смаг, совсем другое дело: он банкир, она получила наследство от отца. Зимой они живут на Парк Авеню, летом – в Вестгемптоне, если только не отправятся отдыхать за границу. В общем, на жизнь они тратят массу денег. И надо сказать, людей счастливее просто не сыскать. The Schmicks live in a small apartment in Brooklyn in the winter, and they vacation in the same small apartment in Brooklyn in the summer. When they really get desperate, they go to Far Rockway for a swim. Шмики живут в крохотной квартирке в Бруклине, там же проводят отпуск. Правда, иногда, когда станет совсем уже невмоготу, ездят купаться в Фар Рокуэй. Once Mrs. Schmick said to me, “We may not have all the comforts and pleasures of the rich, but do you think that makes us unhappy? You bet your sweet life does.”Миссис Шмик однажды сказала мне: «Наша жизнь, конечно, лишена многих благ, доступных богачам. И ты думаешь, мы поэтому чувствуем себя обездоленными? Совершенно правильно думаешь, так оно и есть». 5.2. Analyze any of the texts you have ever translated and find examples of transformations in translation determined by differences in grammatical structures of English and Russian. VI. Study the additional literature and make presentations on the topics: 1) English and Russian parts of speech: similarity and difference. 2) Types of sentences in the English and Russian languages. 3) The typological classification of languages.